


in our history, across our great divide

by eg1701



Category: Succession (TV 2018)
Genre: M/M, Past Relationship(s), Wakes & Funerals, lotta nastiness all around, shiv and greg being nasty to each other and then shiv and tom being nasty to each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-17 05:42:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28719816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eg1701/pseuds/eg1701
Summary: Shiv goes to St. Paul for Tom's grandfather's funeral.a sequel tothis!
Relationships: Greg Hirsch/Tom Wambsgans, Siobhan "Shiv" Roy/Tom Wambsgans
Comments: 4
Kudos: 31





	in our history, across our great divide

**Author's Note:**

> i was listening to happiness and had this idea. title is from that song!

Shiv missed the funeral, but hoped she’d make it in time for there to still be people at Tom’s parents house. It wasn’t so much that Shiv had been close to Tom’s grandfather, but Tom had always been close to his family in general and it felt like she didn’t know exactly, but a good thing to do.

As she pulled her car into the drive-- there were still a fair amount of cars there, which meant she wouldn’t be the only one-- she wondered what, exactly, she was hoping to gain from this. Tom had never given her any indication that he ever wanted to see her again, but after the divorce they’d been at least _civil_ with each other. She liked to think he’d show up to a family funeral on her end, though she wasn’t sure he’d be very welcome.

Maybe it was some desire to prove to Tom’s parents that she wasn’t the heartless bitch he had no doubt made her out to be. Maybe it was to give her some kind of closure. Maybe she just wanted to go because it was, probably, the right thing to do.

Getting out of the car, she smoothed her skirt, and stole one more glance in the side mirror. Pleased that she looked presentable enough to probably see her ex husband, she made her way up the drive-- a memory surfaced of the first time Tom had brought her home. It was snowing and she’d been wearing heels, so he’d lent her his arm for the walk and called himself her Mr. Darcy. He had thought that was pretty funny for the rest of the night.

It was polite to knock, so she did. She wasn’t sure who she would hate more to answer the door. Tom, or Greg. She didn’t even know if Tom and Greg were still _together_ because she had made a very concerted effort to never see them in person or online. The one time she’d run into Tom, the divorce hadn’t even been finalized a year. It was still fresh, but that was a year and a half ago now. So much could have changed in that time. 

“Siobhan,” Mrs. Wambsgans said when she opened the door. Her surprise was evident. Shiv used to call her Evelyn, at her insistence, but that didn’t feel right now. Mrs. Wambsgans was distant and impersonal. Shiv was all about staying distant from these people, “We didn’t know you were coming.”

“I thought I should pay my respects,” she forced herself to smile, and wondered if he hated herself this much, to subject herself to this, “I was very sorry to hear about your father’s passing.”

Mrs. Wambsgans glanced inside, “Please come in dear. It’s quite cold out. There’s food in the kitchen if you’re hungry and drinks in the dining room. You’ll likely remember most of the family.”

Shiv nodded and stepped inside. Mrs. Wambsgans took her coat and hung it up and Shiv glanced around. The house was mostly the same, though the wedding photos that Shiv knew were displayed on the mantel were noticeably absent. Replaced was a better word, but Shiv didn’t want to get close enough to make out what they’d been replaced with. 

Most of Tom’s family she did recognize, and she smiled politely as she passed, making her way into the kitchen. She was angry at herself for feeling so weird about the whole thing. People got divorced all the time. And she was Shiv fucking Roy. She was _not_ going to feel like shit for playing the bigger person and paying her respects to the dead. 

People were milling about in the kitchen, holding plates and drinks, dressed in black dresses and suits. She wasn’t really hungry, but a drink sounded nice. She scooted past and into the dining room.

“Shiv?” Mr. Wambsgans asked, “Is that you?”

“In the flesh. I’m sorry about your loss.”

To her surprise, he gave her a quick hug. Maybe Tom hadn’t run a smear campaign against her to his parents. That, or they were good actors. 

“It was very kind of you to come. How are you?”

“I’m fine,” she said. How were you supposed to talk to people at funerals?

“Can I get you a drink?”

“Yes,” she smiled, “Please.”

He poured her a glass of wine, and excused himself to relieve some woman Shiv didn’t know of a baby in her arms. She had a brief fear that it was Tom’s new wife, new baby, but that was assured when one of Tom’s cousins came up behind her and put a hand on her back.

_Did_ she care what Tom did? If he had a new wife and a new baby? She had no right, really, to his life, but they had been married. Had promised to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, till death do they part. Shiv had always assumed that was more of a guideline anyway. 

She sipped the wine-- it wasn’t very good-- and admired the photo’s of Tom’s grandfather that were up on display. She would loiter for a bit, pay her respects, tell everybody she was sorry for their loss, and escape. The Wambsgans family would think she was a kind and thoughtful ex wife, she’d have the upper hand the next time she ran into Tom, and she could feel good about herself for a few days. 

“Shiv?”

She turned and stifled a groan, “Hi Greg.”

“What, like, what are you _doing_ here?”

“It’s a funeral,” she replied. Were they really still together? She’d been sure that Tom had gotten with Greg to spite her or something no matter what Tom claimed, and that once the divorce was over and he’d had his fucking way, their little fling would eventually fizzle out, “I’d imagine it’s pretty obvious what I’m doing.”

Greg, she realized, must have hated her or something, because he was standing several feet away, and had made no attempt to hug her. He was always trying to _hug_ people in New York. Even though she was pretty sure he knew they didn’t want him to.

But what right did Cousin fucking Greg have to hate her?

(Maybe, she thought, Tom had run his smear campaign to one pair of listening ears--Greg’s. But that didn’t make it right.)

“That’s really nice of you.”

“Where’s Tom?” she asked before she could stop herself. 

“Upstairs. He’s taking a nap. It’s been, like, really hard on him. They were close.”

“You think I don’t know that?” she snapped, “I was married to him. I know that.”

He stared at her, “Sorry.”

“You two get married or what?” She took another sip of the wine. She couldn’t get drunk, as much as she wanted to, but she was pretty sure she wouldn’t want to get drunk on this wine anyway.

“Uh huh,” Greg said and she hid her surprise behind the glass, “In June.”

“You’re kidding.”

Greg held up his left hand, as if to prove it to her, and sure enough, there’s a gold band on his ring finger. Shiv wasn’t sure if she should congratulate him or tell him to go to hell. 

“After everything you did to my family,” Shiv began, “And you still have the audacity to stick around here. You had the audacity to get married to him.”

“I did, like, what I thought was best for me.”

“It’s always been about you hasn’t it _Greg?_ Everything you’ve done has been for you. Kendall’s press conference, working for Tom. All of it has served one purpose-- to get you what _you_ want.”

Greg frowned, “Some of us don’t have silver fucking spoons in our mouths all the time Shiv.”

“What are you getting out of this marriage?” she glanced around, “A nice in with Evelyn Wambsgans? You need an attorney? I’ve known you a long time now Greg, and I don’t think you do things just to do them.”

“I married Tom because I love him.”

“So do you two scheme and laugh at the tabloids about me? Have a little dart board with my face on it? Toast to my downfall?”

Greg shook his head, “I don’t hate you Shiv. We’re family. And Tom still loves you. Like, I don’t think I could hate you.”

She laughed, louder than she thought, and the people nearest glanced over. Ignoring them, she took several steps closer, to fill the space between them. She hated having to look up at him, but seemingly out of habit, Greg leaned down a bit to hear her.

“How _dare_ you say that to me,” she could hear the ice in her tone, but she didn’t care. There were a lot of things she had wanted to say to Greg when she had first found out about the two of them, but Tom had never brought him to a single divorce meeting, not even to leave him in the car. In fact, it was as if Greg had dropped off the face of the earth. Now, most of the anger had cooled, but she could feel it bubbling up now. The only thing that was going to stop her from making a huge scene was because there had just been a funeral, “Family? That’s bullshit. You don’t do that to family.”

Greg shrugged, “I’m definitely sorry for hurting you and everybody. But like, I’m not sorry for getting together with Tom. I love him.”

“You’ve never been sorry for anything in your life Greg.”

It felt _good_ to lash out at him. She knew that it wasn’t really right, that in the end, Tom was the one who was married, the one who had decided to start fucking her cousin, but she still liked how it felt to tell him all this.

Greg shrugged, “Whatever. Like, I can’t make you listen to my apology. You guys never liked me. You never treated me like family. I was a fun, like, scapegoat or whatever. Oh, there’s the dumbass from Canada who doesn’t have a dollar to his name. Let's get him to play jester or whatever. Cause he doesn’t really matter in the end. Nobody matters but us. ”

“That’s a big word for you. Scapegoat. Where’d you learn that one?”

“But I’m right. Kendall was the only one, who I think didn’t _hate_ me. I don’t know why, because your dad was always talking about how important family was.”

Shiv rolled her eyes, “So you fucked my husband.”

“No, like, these are two separate things. Like me and Tom hooking up is in one hand, and your family is in the other. Very much apples and oranges. Besides, you guys had an open marriage.”

“He told you about that.” Shiv wasn’t sure why she was surprised by that because it made sense, but she didn’t really like Greg having that information.

“He tells me everything,” Greg said simply, “We’re married.”

“Evidently,” she turned, not exactly sure where she was going, but desperate to stop hearing Greg’s bullshit, and found herself face to face with Tom. Things were going downhill quickly, and her brain was telling her to abort. 

He looked like shit. Red rimmed eyes and puffy cheeks. There’d been an attempt, she was sure, on his part, to try and make it look like he hadn’t been crying, but since it was a funeral, he hadn’t tried that hard. 

“Shiv,” he smiled, “It was nice of you to come.”

She put a hand on his arm, for just a moment, then took it back, “I’m sorry about your grandfather. I know he was important to you.”

“Thanks,” he replied, “You look well.”

It was hard to ignore the gold wedding band on his finger. Hard to ignore the fact that if she went to the mantel, the pictures that had once been of her and Tom, were probably now of Greg and Tom. Hard to ignore the fact that these people were no longer her in-laws. No longer called her daughter in law, niece in law, cousin in law. She was an interloper now. Once, Tom had been out of place in New York among her people, now she was the one out of place and probably unwanted by some.

“You, well, you don’t.”

He chuckled, “Yeah. I’d imagine so. Did you eat? You remember Mrs. Collins? Across the street? She made a really good casserole you’d probably like.”

“I’ll get something,” she glanced back at Greg, but he wasn’t standing there glaring at her like she thought he might be, but talking to Tom’s mother, who must have come into the room from the front hall, “Thanks. I heard you got married.”

“Oh,” Tom nodded, “Yes. In June.”

“Congratulations I suppose.”

“Thank you.”

“I didn’t get an invite?”

“I didn’t really think that would be appropriate Shiv.”

“I’m kidding,” she rolled her eyes, “Lighten up. So, married again huh? Guess this time you didn’t hear _bad news_ on your wedding night?”

When she thought about it, Shiv knew she should have asked him about it sooner. But she was so terrified of him saying no, of leaving her over it, that she waited. It was manipulative. That, she knew, but it was over now. And he’d left her anyway. In the end, Shiv thought maybe she _was_ better off alone.

“It’s not really funny,” Tom shook his head, “Do you know how terrified I was to get married again? I just _knew_ something was going to happen. Marriage ruined all our chances, I think. I was so scared it was going to fuck up Greg and me.”

Why didn’t he blame her? She blamed him for a lot of it. Sure, there were some parts she was guilty for, but she blamed Tom and she blamed Greg for a lot of it too.

“I’m very happy with Greg,” Tom said firmly, “I don’t know if you care, but I’m telling you. I want you to be happy Shiv, so I like to think you’d want the same for me.”

She didn’t reply.

“It was nice of you to come,” he said, and she was glad he’d changed the subject, “Really. That was nice. He’d always liked you, Grandpa. I think a lot of my family liked you more than you liked them. You never thought very highly of us.”

“Is now the time for this? Your grandfather just died and you’re what? Getting as many digs in as you can before we never see each other again? That’s low, Tom.”

“It’s true. I don’t think you ever gave them a chance. But it doesn’t matter. He liked you. He’d have liked that you came.”

“Well, I’m not a _monster,_ ” she replied, using his own words from that snowy day in the city against him, “It’s the right thing to do when someone dies.”

“We were never good at the right thing were we.”

She chuckled, “No. Not really.”

“Why did you come here? Really.”

“I don’t know,” she shook her head, “I thought your parents were going to hate me. Did you tell them why we got divorced?”

He waved his hand, “Not all of it. I never wanted them to think you were terrible. I didn’t want to… sully their idea of you. I don’t know. I still love you Shiv. You know that. I tried to be heartless. I said a _lot_ of bad things about you to Greg, but I can’t make you the villain in all this. We were not as compalitable as I wanted us to be. As you wanted us to be. It just ended.”

“You think it’s going to last with him?”

Tom shrugged, “I hope so. But I can’t see the fucking future. I hope so though.”

_Did_ Shiv want Tom and Greg to break up? It felt petty and cruel and _nasty_ but a small part of her did want it, just so she could say _I told you so._ She wanted Tom to learn that he couldn’t just have everything he wanted. Couldn’t just run away from his problems. She had made mistakes, but he had as well.

“My therapist tells me that I probably need closure for us,” Tom said, “That the way it ended, with us filing it away and pretending it didn’t happen was unhealthy. She thinks I let things happen to me sometimes. Take my feelings out on the wrong person. I don’t know. I don’t think we needed any more closure than what we had.”

“You needed a therapist long before I met you. Don’t pin that on me.”

“I wasn’t,” he looked taken aback, “It’s actually not always about you. I know that’s probably hard for you to believe, but my life doesn’t revolve around you anymore. I have a new husband and a dog and a life that exists outside the sphere of influence of you and your family.”

“You’re a dick sometimes Tom.”

“I know,” he shook his head, “I know I am.”

What was it that she wanted from him? An apology? Forgiveness? An acknowledgment of _something?_

“It was nice of you to come. I’m going to find Greg and get something to eat. My mom made a cake, she’ll bring it out in half an hour or so if you want. Say hello to my grandmother, she always asks about you. She doesn’t like that we got a divorce. She doesn’t like that Greg’s a man. It was nice to see you Shiv. Honestly it was. Stop by before you leave huh?”

He brushed past her, not rudely or anything, just because he needed to get by, and she was in his way. Still, he’d managed his last dig about his grandmother before he left. Actually she’d never considered it a possibility that his family might not accept Greg because he was a man, and not for the thousand other reasons that existed. She wanted to feel sorry for him for it, but she knew he was guilt tripping her. Maybe they could just no longer have a conversation without snipping at each other like that. Without trying to get the upper hand. 

Wasn’t that why she’d come in the first place? 

Shiv went into the kitchen to hunt down the casserole Tom had mentioned. She would play nice, tell his grandmother hello, and then leave. Shiv wasn’t a glutton for punishment, and this place was no longer open to her. She no longer belonged in Tom’s world, and the longer she stayed, the more the realized it.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed! i am in love with shiv!


End file.
